Quote of the day, 21 November: St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
O my God, Trinity whom I adore, let me entirely forget myself that I may abide in you, still and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity…
Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity
21 November 1904
Mother Germaine, the prioress of the Carmel of Dijon, offers us the following insights concerning the depth of St. Elizabeth’s prayer during the few months leading up to the composition of Elizabeth’s great prayer to the Trinity. These notes come from the Ordinary Process for Elizabeth’s beatification (PO 73v–74r):
“She depicts herself when she writes: “God in me, me in him, oh! That’s my life!” and again: “All my occupation is to go inside and lose myself in Those who are there!” [the divine Hosts of her soul, of whom she had just spoken].
Father Conrad de Meester, O.C.D., biographer and editor of the Oeuvres Complètes (Collected Works) of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, described the preached retreat that preceded the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 21 November 1904:
The retreat concluded on the morning of 21 November. After the Eucharist and a final address by Father Fages, O.P., the Carmelites went to the oratory and, before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed for adoration, they renewed their religious vows, one by one, after which each sister prostrated herself for a few moments on the floor in the form of a cross, as on the day of her first profession.
As daughters of Our Lady of Carmel, living perpetually in the cloistered temple of their monastery, each year they renew their ardent consecration to God and his universal Church on the feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple. Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity, the youngest professed, perhaps the most absolute, dedicated her whole being to those she liked to call “her Three.” On this day, the Blessed Sacrament remained exposed. Elizabeth was accustomed to spending all available time there.
After her death, they were surprised to find in her papers a prayer in her own handwriting, dated 21 November 1904, which began with the words, “O my God, Trinity whom I adore.” It was written in ink, on a sheet torn from a notebook.
“Her prayer to the Trinity was not only a pious elevation, but the expression of a gift of herself to God. We had prepared together for this renewal of our vows on 21 November 1904; when the day after I asked her about it, she replied that she had received a great grace that was difficult for her to express” (Testimony of Sister Marie of the Trinity, PO 152 r–v).
Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2014, I Have Found God, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity Volume 1: Major spiritual writings, translated from the French by Kane, A, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Meester, Conrad de 2017, Rien moins que Dieu : sainte Elisabeth de la Trinité, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris.
Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: A detail from one of four photos taken by her brother-in-law Georges Chevignard on 22 December 1902, the day of her canonical examination; the exam took place days before her religious profession on Epiphany Sunday, 11 January 1903. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (by permission)
#holyTrinity #motherGermaine #prayer #retreat #stElizabethOfTheTrinity
